Therese D. Foster

Therese D. Foster
The Fosters newspaper ran a Daughter’s tribute to her mom and it got me to thinking. The letter took quite a bit of work to follow as it jumped around a lot. The father figure was hard to keep up with if she was talking about her father or whose father. It did its job though for as an article it did reinforce to me that all families are alike in general life. Even families that appear perfect to others, have it ups and downs in life. Therese was a lucky girl in life as she had a lot and lived a long life. She was also just like the rest of us in that she had to work and also worry about her children and mate. Therese was and is what the USA is all about. It is the freedom to make choices or not to, what our US military fight for. That was a thought that came to me as I was writing about Therese. I talked to Therese many times over the years. We were not friends other than to speak when we bumped into one another. I never thought or treated her as if she was better than me and I believe that is why she remembered me. I always in our conversations said straight out what was on my mind in answers to her questions. Therese is the one that first told me to write my opinion down and send it into the Fosters editor. The lucky inspiration to write opinion letters came from the newspaper that now censors my letters trying to influence the voters to the danger a US Marine that comes home alive are.
Reading the article brought me back to my first wake up in a US Military hospital. I looked around not knowing who I was or where I was. A TBI took my memory of life away for good. My memory of life started that day after my 17th birthday. A retired Marine in the bed next to me taught me when ever I start to think down look around and see that everyone else is in worse condition than you. That thought never left my mind as each of the next three life long disabilities from combat related missions (men around me with out limbs or half their face missing in the next beds) made me realize fortunes in life are making the best of what is there, that you have. The one ability that I had and no one can ever take it away is to put my hand out to other people in need. Black, White, Red or Orange everyone in life was my equal so if they needed help my hand always went forward to help even if they did not ask. Therese’s death made me think of the motivation that must be the key reason during my PTSD daily episodes as close as I come to suicide I come back to the world (USA). This letter will be censored as the continuing effort of the news media to make the NH residents believe that I am a danger.
I did not know Therese well but it is funny that even in her death she is getting me to think.
Peter Macdonald Sgt USMC Semper Fi
465 Packers falls rd Lee NH 03824 603-659-6217